Iran’s Foreign Ministry has categorically ruled out transferring highly enriched uranium to any foreign country, while signalling that reducing its concentration inside Iran remains a potential negotiating option. In an official statement, the ministry’s spokesperson said: “TRANSFERRING HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM IS NOT AN OPTION, AND REDUCING ITS CONCENTRATION IS AN OPTION ON THE TABLE.”
The remark comes amid ongoing discussions over the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, as Western powers seek constraints on Tehran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent—levels close to weapons‑grade. Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that enriched uranium will not be sent abroad, insisting that all nuclear material must remain under Iranian control. However, they have indicated that diluting or downblending the highly enriched uranium into lower‑enriched forms is a technical pathway that could be used in exchange for sanctions relief or other concessions.
The spokesperson’s statement is viewed as an attempt to balance Iran’s insistence on retaining its enrichment capability and sovereign control over nuclear material with a degree of flexibility on the technical profile of that material. The position leaves the door open to future confidence‑building measures, such as lowering enrichment levels or reducing stockpiles, even as it firmly rejects any scheme that would see highly enriched uranium physically removed from Iranian territory